Could a person be dismissed for drug use outside of work hours

[will lliw]

No, they would only be lying if they answered in the negative. Refusal to answer a question about what you do in your own personal time is not a disciplinary matter unless the contract of employment requires it.

 

The only other exception is a job that required enhanced CRB check. There is a duty on the employee to inform the employer of any circumstances that change the detail of the CRB disclosure

 

The employee has been absent due to a minor injury since the incident but there are rumors floating around at there work. They highly expect to be asked about the rumors and to ether confirm or deny. Obviously the employee does not want to lie and be dismissed for gross misconduct so intends to inform work of the charge but only if asked. The employee also feels that this is a matter that does not concern there employer as the incident was not on work time and cannabis has never been taken to work or used in work time or time immediately prior to work. The employee considers himself to be a responsible person but unfortunately the current law criminalises him.

 

Thanks for everyones comments on this matter.....

[poppynurse]

Fingers crossed for you.

[Sali]

I worked in a company where we randomly got one hours notice to present ourselves for drink and drug tests. It wasn't in our contracts, we were just informed that this was the way it was going to be. If anyone had been found positive, the company were supposed to help the employee with counselling etc. My position was not operating machinery or driving. However, it was felt unreasonable to target those individuals just in this category. I had no issues with the policy. I think it will become common practice.

[will lliw]

I worked in a company where we randomly got one hours notice to present ourselves for drink and drug tests. It wasn't in our contracts, we were just informed that this was the way it was going to be. If anyone had been found positive, the company were supposed to help the employee with counselling etc. My position was not operating machinery or driving. However, it was felt unreasonable to target those individuals just in this category. I had no issues with the policy. I think it will become common practice.

 

 

I dont have any issues with drug testing at work, infact I think its sensible to help reduce the risk of any accidents. What I find troubling is the posibility that employers could begin to intefere with peoples personal lives by creating policys restricting what employees can do out of work time. This I think is one step to close to a big brother state and by the looks of it at the moment the business agrees and is staying out of it....

[poppynurse]

Unfortunately drugs like cannabis stay in your system for up to 30 days - so if you fancy a smoke you'd better have plenty of annual leave booked!

[borisbeaver]

I used to work for Network Rail and there is a zero tolerance to Drugs and Alcohol. It is acutally laid down is legislation regarding this.

 

We were subject to random drug and alcohol screenings and this was an immediate dismissable offence. The team would turn up and stop anyone from leaving the site/depot until they had given a sample. A few people got very worried.

 

Just the suspicion of drug or alcohol misuse was enough to warrant testing.